Hey there 2sick.. There are a lot of us on here that are on Enbrel.. I have been on it for over 2 years now. I was also very skeptical about trying it.. The side effects had me so worried, I made myself sick.. But when I talked to my rheumy, and some others that were on it, I felt much better.. Within the 1st month of taking Enbrel, I noticed remarkable results.. within 3 months, I was walking normal again. No limp. I can play with my kids again.. jump on the trampoline.. go to the gym and work out on regular basis.. ride my bike... go hiking.. all the things I enjoyed BEFORE my arthritis, I can do again.. I still have some limits, but I am much more mobile and agile now, than I was before I started treatment..

When are you going to start it? Has your rheumy said?Moderator of Arthritis Forum

At the moment, the only other med I take is 100mg minocycline pulsed on MWF. That is a mycoplasma protocol for RA which I pleaded with my original rheumy to let me try. I have been taking it for 16 mths.

Aside from that, I was working with a MD who practices integratively. He was helping me heal my gut, identify food allergies and detox heavy metal toxicity. The detox had to go very slow as I was so reactive to it. We did glutathione/lipostabil pushes for one year.

During this time, my RA went from a high moderate to a weak positive. The rheumy was stunned. He said "I am a science based doctor. I don't understand a thing you are doing but either it is working or mother nature has decided to spontaneously heal you as you are nearly dormant." The bloodwork agreed.

I was elated and doing very well without the dangerous drugs. Then I was bit by another tick on mother's day weekend and my health has just plummeted since.

I test positive for Babesia, QFever, and EBV. The LLMD I sought out for this tickbite is also a rheumatologist. She wants to get my RA under control before she begins treatment of the Babs. (She didn't even mention the QFever & EBV so I don't think they are very serious) She strongly suspects strep in my gut but at the time of our meeting, the test for it had not come back.

I took enbrel for 8-9 months. Didn't have any very serious side effects. At first, I got sick a bit more than usual, but then you are suppressing your immune system with any of these drugs. Enbrel works--it took a while for it to kick in for me (5=6 months), but was well worth it in the long run. I was taken off it because I may have had latent tb (probably do not have tb, but I'm being treated for it anyway), which enbrel (and other tnf inhibitors) is not too good for. I must say that I do miss enbrel; the combination of enbrel and mtx made me feel 100% normal!